BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 15-ranked Indiana University women’s swimming and diving team will head to Indianapolis, Ind. this week for 2017 NCAA Championships, hosted by Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis and Indiana Sports Corp.
The four-day meet gets underway on Wednesday night at the IU Natatorium with the finals of the 800 freestyle relay. The next three days will feature prelims beginning at 10 a.m. ET, with finals following at 6 p.m. ET. Diving trials and consolation finals will begin following swimming prelims Thursday through Saturday.
ESPN3.com will stream the championships finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and IndianaSportsCorp.org. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 28.
Live results for the championships will be available on IUHoosiers.com.
                         Hoosiers at the 2016 NCAA Championships
The Indiana Hoosiers will send a total of 12 swimmers and diver to Indianapolis this week for the NCAA Championships. Along with the individual events listed below, the Hoosiers will also swim in the 800 freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay and the 200 medley relay.
The Hoosiers have recorded some impressive times this season, earning five individual top-10 seeds at this year’s NCAA Championships. Leading the way for IU is the defending NCAA champion in the 100 and 200 breast, Lilly King, who is the No. 1 seed in both events again this season.
Gia Dalesandro is the No. 5 seed in the 100 fly and the No. 7 seed in the 200 fly, while Kennedy Goss is the No. 6 seed in the 200 backstroke. In addition, the Hoosiers are seeded No. 5 in the 400 medley relay.
Below is the list of the Hoosier student-athletes at the 2017 NCAA Championships and the individual events in which they are scheduled to participate.
Michal Bower – 1-Meter Dive, 3-Meter Dive
Gia Dalesandro – 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly
Kennedy Goss – 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke
Cassy Jernberg – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Lilly King – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
Stephanie Marchuk – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle
Jessica Parratto – 1-Meter Dive, 3-Meter Dive, Platform Dive
Bailey Pressey – 200 butterfly, 200 IM, 400 IM
Ali Rockett – 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Delaney Barnard – Relays Only
Maria Paula Heitmann – Relays Only
Holly Spears – Relays Only
                           Indiana at the 2016 NCAA Championships
The 2016 NCAA Championships were the most successful in the history of the IU women’s swimming and diving program, as the Hoosiers placed seventh with a total of 228 points. The seventh-place finish and 228 points are both the best for the team in NCAA Championship history. IU was also the top Big Ten finisher at the national championships for the second-straight year.
Lilly King won NCAA titles in both the 100 and 200 breast, becoming the first woman – and fourth swimmer Big Ten history – to win multiple national championships in one year. King is the first Hoosier – man or woman – to win multiple NCAA crowns in one year since Jim Montgomery in 1976. With her great performance, King was named CSCAA National Swimmer of the Year.
The top-10 finish was the seventh in program history and marked the first time the team posted consecutive top-10’s since IU placed 10th three-straight years from 2008-10. The team also garnered 27 All-America honors – the most for the program since 2004.
IU Places Second at 2017 Big Ten Championships
Indiana finished in second place at the 2017 Big Ten Championships with a total score of 1125 points, finishing behind Michigan. IU has placed first or second at the Big Ten Championships in each of the last nine years, winning the title three-straight times from 2009 to 2011. The Hoosiers have finished second the last six seasons.
At the league championships, IU won a total of nine medals – eight gold and one silver. Lilly King was named Swimmer of the Championships after winning three individual Big Ten titles, as well as a gold medal with the 400 medley relay and a silver medal with the 200 medley relay.
Gia Dalesandro dominated the butterfly events, winning both with NCAA A cuts. Her victory in the 200 fly was her fourth-straight, as she became just the 15th woman in Big Ten history to win an individual event four times and was the first Hoosier to accomplish the feat. Prior to Dalesandro, no other women’s swimmer in Big Ten history had ever won a 200 fly title more than two straight years.
Joining King and Dalesandro on the All-Big Ten First-Team were Kennedy Goss, Ali Rockett, Holly Spears and Jessica Parratto.
Over the course of the Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers posted some impressive accolades. The Hoosiers broke four school records, four Big Ten records, six Big Ten meet records, six Boilermaker Aquatic Center pool records, one NCAA record and one American record. IU also amassed nine NCAA A cut times and had 42 personal-best swims.
